Wednesday, August 27, 2014

Change Your Life in One Week Challenge

Hey there fitness friends!!!

With all of the challenges circulating through social media recently, I decided to offer up a challenge of my own. So if you are reading this, you have probably witnessed my own life transformation, which was certainly not easy, and is certainly not done yet. I have lost 70 pounds! I get email after email each week from people I don't even know, who just want to know where to start, and I am always thrilled to help someone with the desire to better themselves.

Here is my challenge to you, all of you! I challenge you, to dedicate ONE week to your health. A single week, dedicated to getting a little more active, and following in my footsteps. Just one little week, of looking a little closer at your nutrition, and reaping more benefits than you knew possible. I challenge you, to put your health first, for just one week!

Why just a week? There is certainly a lot of thought behind this challenge, and while you will not lose 70 pounds in one week, the amount of change that will happen is tremendous.  A week is easy to commit to. when you ask someone to dedicate the rest of their lives to a new change, they crawl back into that shell because that is a scary request! I believe wholeheartedly in taking things one step at a time. What actually happens in that week is amazing though! You start to ask questions, and to learn how to track your macros. You start to move your body a little more, and you enjoy that accomplished feeling you are left with after each workout, no matter how small (even just a walk!) You start to get into a routine, where your life no longer revolves around food and eating, but around your kids, your spouse, your goals, etc and you learn what it really means to eat to live, not live to eat! At the end of that week, imagine how it will feel to see a few pounds fall off of the scale, and to be able to understand how you did it!

One week turns into 2, which turns into 4 which turns into more and more. If you have the desire to make a better and healthier you, and you are willing to learn and willing to try, there is no way you can fail. So what do you say, can you give me one week?

xoxoxo
-Sarie

Monday, August 11, 2014

If it Fits Your Macros (Part 2 of Macros Blog)

Good afternoon fitness nation!


I just wanted to pop in for a quick post, since I have quite the audience now! In a previous post, I explained what macronutrients were and how you can track them and adjust them to work for your weight loss. (if you havent read that post click this http://crazymomgettingfit.blogspot.com/2014/06/what-heck-are-macros.html ) I really just wanted to expand on that a little bit since I have had people ask me how it is that I lose weight and still enjoy some of the yummier foods in life. I promise, I am not a wizard with a magical metabolism (But hey, I can dream right? No harm in pretending to be a wizard lol. )

It's called IIFYM, and that stands for "If it fits your macros." Basically, look at your macros like you look at money. If you have $40, you aren't going to try and spend $50 right? If you do that, your debit card gets declined (and that is like a nightmare when there are people in line behind you lol. Look at your macros like you look at a budget (which can be a scary word, I know.) I know that I need 170 grams of carbs in a day (I eat 1700 calories per day and 40% of those calories are reserved for carbs.) If I get a craving for frozen yogurt, I simply look at the nutrition panel of the fro-yo. Frozen yogurt is pretty much all fats and carbs, and that's not always a bad thing! You need carbs remember? I need 170 grams a day, and if I decide that I want to spend 40 grams out of my 170 total grams on fro-yo, well then I'm going to do it! mmmmmmmmmm fro-yo!!!!!!

WAIT! Here's the thing... Yes, you technically CAN eat pizza an fro-yo and ramen noodles and make it fit your macros, but that doesn't mean you should. What I like to do, is a healthier modified version of this. Instead of fro-yo, I'm going to eat Halo-Top protein ice cream, or Atctic Zero protein ice cream. I still get my ice cream fix, but I made a better choice than traditional ice cream. Now back to your regularly scheduled blog.

So say I log my Halo-Top into my fitness pal, and I've eaten it. Now if I click that "nutrition" button on MFP, it is going to deduct all of those Halo-Top macros from my "daily balance." This means for the rest of the day, as long as the foods I choose fit into my "balance," I am free to enjoy them. The tricky part, is trying not to overspend in any category. If you notice you can  ALMOST fit something in to your macros, but not quite, simply eat a smaller amount of it, problem solved because you still get your treat, and it fit into your macro-budget for the day. Once you get the hang of this, it is amazing! There is absolutely no one out there who couldn't make this work for them for life! Make better choices, and find space for the things you want on occasion. No cheat day needed when you can make your favorite things fit right? Enjoy spending your macros, and get to it!

Feel free to share this with your friends and family!!